Knowledge and tools to enhance resilience of beef grazing systems for sustainable animal protein production

Ruminant livestock provides meat and dairy products that sustain health and livelihood for much of the world’s population.Grazinglandsthatsupportruminantlivestockprovidenumerousecosystemservices,includingprovision of food, water, and genetic resources; climate and water regulation; support of soil formation; nutrient cycling; and cultural services. In the U.S. southern Great Plains, beef production on pastures, rangelands, and hay is a major economic activity. The region’s climate is characterized by extremes of heat and cold and extremes of drought and flooding. Grazing lands occupy a large portion of the region’s land, significantly affecting carbon, nitrogen, and water budgets. To understand vulnerabilities and enhance resilience of beef production, a multi-institutional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP), the “grazing CAP,” was established. Integrative research and extension spanning biophysical, socioeconomic, and agricultural disciplines address management effects on productivity and environmental footprints of production systems. Knowledge and tools being developed will allow farmers and rancherstoevaluaterisksandincreaseresiliencetodynamicconditions.Theknowledgeandtoolsdevelopedwillalso have relevance to grazing lands in semiarid and subhumid regions of the world.